Kuroko no Basuke: Seirin vs Okanishi
by MaiFauna
Summary: When a female basketball superstar proposes a scrimmage between her school and Seirin to Riko; how can Seirin refuse. Especially since the superstar is Aomine's new girlfriend and her school, Okanishi International Highschool, is known for producing the top basketball players of the Kanagawa Prefecture.
1. The Proposal

**Note from Author: This story doesn't take into account the events from Extra Game. This story also has a number of spoilers as well as original characters.**

The Proposal

A Seirin High office aid quickly escorted a special guest to the school's gymnasium. The aid gently pushed the gym door open and walked with the guest to greet Riko Aido. The freshly cleaned floor squeaked under their shoes.

"Minori Suda, but everyone calls me Nori," the guest shook the young coach's hand.

Riko knows exactly who Minori is, she's seen her in every women's sports magazine. To be quite honest, Riko was a little starstruck.

Seirin was still practicing while the two girl's discussed what brought Minori to their school. Hyuga noticed Minori first, then Izuki and Kagami. The three boy talked about the guest while they were practicing shooting.

"She looks familiar," Hyuga narrowed his eyes to get a better look at Minori as she smiled at Riko.

Minori definitely has a face and stature that you would remember. She has clear brown skin, long, black, and wavy hair, also according to her stats; she's 5'11" (She towers over Riko.) Kuroko definitely recognizes her. He points out, "Momoi called awhile ago and said that Aomine was taking a girl out on a date."

At the sound of her boyfriend's name, Minori snapped to attention. Her eyes instantly latched onto to Kuroko (Aomine only speaks fondly of him), but she's never met Kuroko. Minori flashed a closed mouthed smile in his direction then went back to her conversation with Riko.

"I heard about your match with Tōō last week," Riko smiled nervously, "You beat them 98 to 86. That's a pretty astounding feat, especially since you've never played a men's team before."

"Well, personally I've never played a men's team before; but my school, Okanishi International High, is known for challenging a wide array of teams. Let me explain why I'm here though," Minori's face went expressionless, "We would like to play Seirin within the next two weeks. I think it would be great practice for both teams and a good opportunity for my team to leave the Kanagawa prefecture for a little while. It's been awhile since we played anyone decent there."

Riko remembered a game she saw Minori's team play in last year. They made it all the way to Nationals; only to have their star player tear their ACL in the second to last game, then Okanishi beats their rivals by 20 points in order to take 1st place. This year they're the top choice for winning the whole thing once again. Riko thought that Minori had a point, this would be good practice for Seirin since they haven't played a team since the Interhighs. Minori changed her expression to become more gentle.

"Don't keep me waiting too long, here's my coach's number in case you say yes. And I'll just warn you now, I don't take 'no's' kindly," Minori winked and left the gym.

Riko called the team to a huddle. She explained the proposition that Minori had presented to them.

Kagami was the first to speak up, "Why would we say no to that? If they're that good, it'll be an interesting math."

The rest of the team had similar reactions. Riko took this as an okay to call Okanishi's coach and letting them know that Seirin was on board.


	2. Pomp and Circumstance

**Pomp and Circumstance**

Minori rushed to the door in anticipation of her mother being home from work. She wasn't disappointed by the sight of Aomine though.

"Is your mom home," Aomine ran a hand through his short blue hair.

"Are the flowers for her," Minori gestured at the bouquet of chrysanthemums in his hand. Minori kissed him on the cheek, took the flowers, and led him inside. Aomine took a seat on the couch as Minori searched for a vase to put the flowers in.

"I was just about to wash my hair, so you came at the right time," Minori spotted a vase in the cabinet above the sink.

"Ah," Aomine smiled, "Your pre-game ritual of a hairwash in order to clear your mind. You keep talking about it, but I've never seen you do it."

Minori couldn't see Aomine's face, but he was blushing at the thought of her in the shower. "Well just wait and in a few minutes you'll see me afterwards. There's dinner in the fridge if you're hungry," Minori said as she was going up the stairs.

After eating some of the curry that was in the fridge, taking a call from Momoi, and watching some television; Aomine's wait was over. Minori came down the stairs in a sky blue American band shirt and black pajama shorts. Minori took a seat next to Aomine on the couch.

"To answer your previous question…my mother is still at work," Minori let her long wet loose curls drip on the couch.

"Hmm. You know I don't like when you're alone," Aomine didn't look at his girlfriend in fear that he would begin to blush, "You think to much, Nori."

Nori laughed a little. She and Aomine were both on the mellow side, but when Nori is passionate about something, she becomes very animated. Once, she was explaining how the treatment of her mother in the workplace is horrendous and the anger in her face almost scared Aomine. Minori is the only daughter her mother has, actually the only child her mother has. Minori's father is the CEO of a large banking conglomerate and Minori is not his only child. Minori's mother and father were having an affair and out of it came Minori. It also doesn't help that Minori's mother is American.

"Lately I've been thinking about the game, I can't believe it's tomorrow," Minori bit her bottom lip, "They're really strong, I can feel it."

Aomine but his large hand on Minori's knee, "Don't underestimate them."

"If anything I'm overestimating them. Ya know what my prediction is?"

Minori's nickname is, The Looking Glass. Before every game she makes a prediction about how the game will end and everytime it comes true. She bases it off of her team and her opponent's team stats. Aomine grunted in response.

"A tie," Minori admitted and looked Aomine in the eye. He's never heard her say that, but then again, they haven't been dating very long.

Even though it was a scrimmage, the press caught wind of it. When Okanishi, clad in burgundy warm up suits, walked into the building, their coach and Minori got asked for an interview. Of course they obliged. Okanishi's coach is a retired WNBA player named Lisa Owens, she's world class. Okanishi kept walking into the gym while their star and coach were being interviewed. Their starter Point Guard, Isobe Honoka, took the role as leader and asked for directions to the locker room. The girls got changed into their burgundy and silver jerseys, then decided to do some practice drills.

"Glad you could come back," Onaga Junko, Okanishi's main Center, said to Minori once she rejoined the group.

"Is everyone warmed up," Minori asked.

Completely ignoring the question, Junko kept talking, "I've never seen so many people packed into such a small gym. I mean I can believe that people would come from all over to see Japan's best; but not like this. How's your hand."

Minori looked down to see the finger she accidently caught in her coach's car door this morning. It looked red and a little swollen, but Minori has played with worse ailments.

"It's a little stingy, I still plan on a lot of controlled ball handling even with it though. I'll get Lisa to wrap it up before we go on the court," that answer was good enough for Junko because she left to go warmup. Minori looked from face to face, as she did before most games, and saw some of Okanishi's rival teams. In the Kanagawa prefecture, Okanishi's biggest rivals are Ueda Academy, Shiraishi High, and Date Ichigawa High. Minori went around and talked to some of the local coaches who came to see the game. She smiled, introduced herself, and explained her game plan for today. At the door a reporter asked her about her prediction and when she told him, the crowd that formed was in awe.

"Do you not have faith in your team," the reporter asked.

"No, of course I do. I think that Seirin is going to pull out all the stops even though this is just a practice match; but so are we. Seirin will do anything to win, they're resilient in spirit and stamina. So are we. I just believe that we're equally matched. The two best teams in Japan," Minori explained.

Minori went back to the bench in order to stretch. She and a few of her other teammates always warm up before they get to their location. In the process of stretching, she saw players from Seiren's rivals walk in; Tōō, Shutoku, Kaijo, Yosen, Rakuzen, and Kirisaki Daichi. All of the Generation of Miracles are in one place. When Imayoshi was finding his seat with Aomine, Imayoshi finally got a good look at Minori. He finally understood why Aomine was initially attracted to her; her breasts are huge. They aren't actually though, they just look large on her frame. Aomine definitely doesn't mind.

There were only five minutes left until the game was supposed to start. All the players were waiting by the bench. Lisa was wrapping Minori's finger as Minori was watching the clock count down.

Riko was talking to Seirin about last minute preparations. Things were different now that Kiyoshi is no longer playing. Now he's just by Riko's side, giving needed guidance or pep talks.

"We've seen every game this team has played for the last 6 months. We've read all the data that there is about them. And even with all of that information… Go out on the court like you've never met them. Leave all your reserves and preconceived ideas on the bench. Act like we don't know what to expect out of them," Riko was trying her best not to feel sized up by the all girls' team, "Minori and the rest of her teammates are world class, but everyone has a bad day and a bad play. If we concentrate and work together, we can beat them."

Seirin's chant boomed through the gymnasium and silenced every other noise. Okanishi looked their way and yelled their chant at the top of their lungs. This set the tone for the match. Okanishi wasn't afraid to match the Interhigh Champions. The referee called both teams' starters to the center. Minori and Kagami were there for the faceoff. Both of them had smiles plastered on their faces. Minori spotted something wild and in Kagami's eye; she could easily recognize animal instincts as a result of street ball experience. The ball was tossed up by the ref and due to Kagami's height advantage, he now possessed the ball. Kagami passed the ball to Kuroko and just before Kuroko could relinquish the ball to Izuki; Honoka (Point Guard, Okanishi) was right in front of him. Kuroko tried to perform an invisible pass, but Honoka easily caught it. She then passed the ball to Minori, who was to her left.

Okanishi has possession of the ball.


	3. 1st Quarter: Queens of the Court

**1st Quarter: Queens of the Court**

**Note: Just in case you don't know: Center (C), Power Forward (PF) , Small Forward (SF), Point Guard (PG), Shooting Guard (SG)**

Aomine put his chin in his palm to focus on the game more clearly. He remembers that in the match between him and Okanishi, Honoka only throws to her left.

"Is she blind in one eye," Imayoshi asked Aomine.

"No idea, Nori never brought it up," he answered.

The truth is that Honoka is partially blind in one eye, so she relies on sound in order to navigate the court. It took her all of her freshman season to recognize the sound each of her teammates make. Since her right eye is impaired, Kuroko's misdirection doesn't work if he's on that side.

Minori passes the ball to Funai Kana (Shooting Guard, Okanishi), who snaps the ball into the goal with no set up or preparation. As quickly as she received the ball, she relinquished it to the basket. Kana's speciality is a shooting technique that requires a fast jump then snapping the ball into the basket. A high jumping opponent, much like Kagami, tried to stop Kana's shot while it was in motion; and had to sit out for the rest of the game due to a hand injury. Seirin knew what to expect, so there was no shock. Kana was very disappointed by this.

"Defense," Minori gave the direction to her team.

Kiyoshi was confused, "What is this?"

Riko looked away from her clipboard in order to answer Kiyoshi's question. She explained, "It's a special defense that Okanishi branded. They call it: 'Zone- Man to Man'."

Up in the stands Akashi was explaining the same thing to his team, "Okanishi is still using zone defense; but will let the player walk up to them, then start playing defense. Okanishi doesn't play a usual defense by letting their Center face off with Seirin's Power Forward. Okanish's Power Forward will go against Seirin's Point guard and Okanishi's Small Forward will be marked to Seirin's Shooting Guard. They do this to capitalize off of their players skills and teamwork. Watch closely."

Riko had warned Seirin about this. She told the boys to play away from Okanishi; the farther the better. Kagami dribbled the ball away from Junko.

"Pick your man," Junko yelled the command to her teammates. The zones shifted. The girls made a diagonal path to the next person they were marking. Now Okanishi's Small Forward, Miyagawa Yasuko, marked Kagami. It was a funny sight because Kagami towered over her. Yasuko stood at a strong 5'8" while Kagami is 6'3". This would look like a weakness because now Kagami can see every movement that Yasuko was about to do. Her eyes connected with Kagami and her hand reached for the dribbling ball. Kagami tried to pull back, but it was too late. Yasuko had already stolen the ball and Kagami was still making a dribbling motion. The ball smacked the ground hard and Kana caught it as it flew towards her. Mitobe was already there to block her line of sight. Kana passed the ball from behind her back to Minori, who was lying in wait for the ball. They've been playing for about 5 minutes and it was very unlike Minori to not show off her abilities by now. Kagami marked her instantly. She looked up at him, dribbled the ball, looked right, and went left instead. Her shoes squeaked against the floor as she moved down the court with ease. Kagami was hot on her tracks, but she was too smooth and fast. Minori stopped to move around Hyuga. That wasn't a play that he was expecting, players don't stop when they're going at such a high speed, just to move around a defender. Minori uses this time to switch to one handed ball handling. Minori begins jumping for her one handed 2 pointer. Hyuga saw her legs beginning to bend and jumped with her. He easily matched her height, but then she _threw_ the ball in the goal.

"Seirin's ball," Minori said to herself once her sneakers hit the floor. Hyuga didn't understand. What Minori just did wasn't a shot, he saw her do that on one of the tapes; but it's different close up. Her hand and wrist didn't treat the ball like it was shooting the ball into the goal. Minori threw the ball into the basket like she was pitched a baseball. Not only that, but she was incredibly fast and smooth. From the stands it looked like she danced across the court. The score read Seirin 0 and Okanishi 5. The ball went back to Seirin.

Kuroko starts with the ball in order to do the vanishing drive. Yasuko goes in for for a steal, but Kuroko disappears then reappears behind her. Then Honoka cuts in from the left.

"Honoka," Minori yells. Honoka swore under her breath as Kuroko loses both of his defenders. Hyuga gets the ball and scores a 3 pointer.

As Honoka and Minori set up for offense, Minori says, " It's okay, we might have just lost a good card; but you have fast feet. We'll manage." Minori pats Honoka on the shoulder.

Kagami is marking Minori, he won't let her slip away again. Minori palmed the ball, only handling it with her left hand because her right hand begun to throb. She passed the ball to Junko who took the pace of the game 2 notches down. That's her ability and her whole purpose for now. She had to keep Kagami out of the Zone for as long as possible. Junko also palmed the ball, but only with her right hand. She didn't throw or quickly shoot the ball into the goal. The ball was making a slow trajectory into the basket. It was interrupted by a steal from Mitobe. Now it was center vs. center. Seirin was beginning to form their Run and Gun offense with irregular passes just as Mitobe passed Kuroko the ball.

"No," Riko yelled, but it was too late. Kuroko was making a horizontal pass to Kagami, but Minori intercepted it.

Aomine was on the edge of his seat and the first quarter wasn't even halfway over. He remembered that Minori isn't just the master of basketball; but back when she lived in America, she was also the master of lacrosse. She and Junko can intercept any horizontal pass that comes their way.

Minori didn't even look at the basket. She palmed the ball with her right hand and shot the ball into the goal. _I tried to be nice_, Minori thought. Seirin called a time out.

Riko was explaining that all of the players on Okanishi's team play another sport as well as basketball. She didn't think of it as an important detail until now. She also outlawed all horizontal passes until further notice. She told Kagami to play to Minori's left. For now their whole focus was on Minori, so Mitobe and Kagami now working together in order to double team her. Meanwhile, Okinishi was staying silent and standing at their bench waiting for Seirin to leave their timeout. The crowd observed this with fascination. Minori looked to the stands again. She flashed her iconic smile and a few people responded with claps or waves.

Kagami started with the ball, but quickly passed it to Izuki. He saw Yasuko's hand reaching for the ball. Her hand was right under his when he patted it down. Yasuko's steal either ends with success or a personal foul on the opponent's side. The score is Seirin 3 and Okanishi 8. Izuki was fouled for hand checking, Yasuko. The disadvantage to this ability is that Yasuko isn't the best at shooting. She makes two of the three free throws. The ball goes back to Seirin.

The rest of the quarter is played in what seems like swift and endless motion. First Okanishi is in the lead, then slips to give Seirin a one point the end of the quarter there was a three point advatage, favoring Okanishi. Kagami has slowly been amping up his pace and Minori as well as the rest of Okanishi has been matching his energy. In the last minute of the quarter, Kagami quickly moved towards Minori faster than she could process him. She falls back as a result of her eyes focusing more on Kagami's movements than her own. Horror registers on her face as she takes the brunt of the fall on her right hand. There's a commotion from Okanishi's bench as Kagami moves towards the goal and Minori scrambles to collect herself. Kana is there to meet Kagami. Kana bends low then propels herself into the air from the balls of her feet. Her hand is there to block Kagami's dunk. The ball is in between both of their palms and just when Kagami regains control of the ball by overpowering Kana; the buzzer sounds off through the gym.

Minori doesn't sit down on the bench. She already knows what Lisa is going to say.

"Don't say it coach," Minori said.

"If I let you play on that hand for 4 quarters straight you'll lose every scholarship opportunity you ever had. I can't be responsible for that and neither can you," Coach said.

"Don't put her in," it was uncharacteristic for Minori to be acting so vicious.

"What's so wrong with me," Sota Izumi, Okanishi's rarely seen other ace, smiled, "I'm not so bad coach, give me a chance."

Sota Izumi is the complete opposite of Minori, with that being said, they used to be best friends. If Minori has the perfect technique for basketball, then Izumi is the best streetball player on the team. Seirin also has no information about her because she was suspended from playing and left the team for awhile.

"I guess this is my second debut," Izumi smiled, more maniacally this time.

Minori put her hand on Izumi's chest and cocked her head to the side.

"Don't lose your head," Minori whispered and stood next to her coach.

Izumi smiled again, "I never do."


	4. Flashback: You hurt people!

**Flashback: " You hurt people!"**

Minori and Izumi have known each other since elementary school.

"Sota Izumi," the 3rd grade teacher called.

A little Izumi raised her hand and smiled.

"Suda Minori," Minori raised her hand and Izumi looked at the little girl sitting next to her.

Izumi smiled at Minori and confronted her once the class got a break around lunchtime.

"We're gonna be best friend," Izumi smiled at Minori and took her by the hand. Minori looked at the little girl who was only inches away from her face. Izumi then dragged Minori outside to a small basketball court owned by the school. Minori just stood there as Izumi went to fetch a ball from one of the advisors. This was Minori's first day at a Japanese school. She had lived in America up until this point. She could barely understood what Izumi was saying.

The summer before the two girls were going into Junior High, Minori left for America again. Izumi was devastated and to make matters worse, Minori didn't write or call back to Japan. It was like she fell off the face of the Earth. Izumi moved from the Tokyo prefecture to Kanagawa because of her father's job. So if Minori was ever going to write Izumi, she'd never receive her letter. Izumi quickly became the best basketball player at her small middle school and even went to Nationals. Minori, on the other side of the world, got to see Izumi play the sport they both loved. From that day until she boarded the plane, Minori begged her mother to let her go back to Japan. Finally, in her second year of Senior high school, Minori returned to Japan.

On Minori's first day at Okanishi, the only person who knew her was Izumi. The two old friends hugged and cried from so much time that had gone by. Ever missed letter and phone call was forgiven.

"Do you still play," Izumi asked as they were passing a basketball court while walking home.

"You thought I was just sitting on my ass in America," Minori smiled.

When Izumi put the ball in her hand, her whole attitude changed. She was no longer her mild, cool self. In Minori's own words, she was a monster. Izumi had a blatant disregard for technique and set rules. She used any force necessary in order to score a basket or shake her defender. Minori's movements were clean and fast; but Izumi was wild and fluid. They contrasted each other in a good way.

Once their one on one game was over, they sat down on the court in silence.

"Are you on Okanishi's team," Minori asked.

"Hell yeah, I made it to Nationals two years ago. I couldn't stop my momentum at that point, I had to keep playing," Izumi thought back to Nationals.

Minori looked over to her friend, "I saw you play that year. I begged my mom to let me come back after I saw that game. I came back for you."

Izumi was shocked, she thought that Minori stopped caring about her a long time ago.

A few months after Minori joined the team, Okanishi was unstoppable. With Izumi and Minori working together, nothing could beat them. Nothing could beat them, until the qualifiers for Nationals. Okanishi was up against their biggest rival at the time, Ueda Academy. It wasn't Minori and Izumi's best game because for a reason that the girls couldn't see yet; but they were out of sync. Truth be told, their styles were finally clashing. The symptoms were there for weeks; but they would just put a bandaid on it, and hoped that it would go away. This game was the breaking point of their cooperation. After a heated conversation between Minori and Izumi during a timeout, they went back on the court for one last play of the quarter. Minori was playing Center and Izumi was the Power Forward. Minori and the rest of the team's attention was completely focused on shaking their defenders. This left Izumi alone and she was too far away from the basket to successfully take the shot. Izumi performed an ankle breaker dribble to escape her defender then headed down the lane to make a dunk. She was being as careless as usual, so when she swung off the basket, she landed on the Ueda player manning the low post. Minori watched the whole thing happen. Izumi jumped down from swinging on the rim of the basket, no concern for anyone below her and landed flat on the defender.

This would have looked like an isolated incident; but as the game went on more injuries were happening by the hands of Izumi. In the final quarter Izumi was penalized to the point of suspension. The referees reviewed the events of the game and decided that since it was only Izumi gaining penalties, Okanishi would not be disqualified.

That year was Minori's year in the spotlight. Okanishi's captain at the time accredits Minori's actions for the reason why they won Nationals that year. Izumi was suspended for 6 months, but still went to practices. When it was time for the 3rd years to leave, the captain named Izumi as her predecessor. Minori snapped.

"NO! She's suspended, she could have lost us Nationals," Minori yelled and was pointing at Izumi.

It's true that Minori had changed while she was away in America. She wasn't the sweet girl that Izumi used to know. Then again, neither was Izumi. Under her coolness was malice and arrogance. Minori began to control herself when she realized that she was in the public eye more and more. Izumi never really addressed her own hidden personality.

"Minori," Izumi yelled back.

Minori balled up her fist, but wasn't planning on hurting anyone with them.

"I've been here longer than you, it's as simple as that. You couldn't be captain because you left," Izumi continued, "You left."

Minori always knew that she hurt Izumi by leaving. They never brought it up in conversation, but the anger was still there; right under the surface.

"You left too, you got suspended for 6 months. We can't play together anymore, you knew that when you decided to get all those fouls. Izumi, you put what we had in jeopardy just to show off," Minori spat at her friend.

"None of that is true," Izumi said in a lower volume.

"Just say it, you think you're better than me. You always have," Minori was getting hysterical.

Izumi was really hurt now. Her coolness peeled away to address her biggest problem with Minori. She could look past Minori leaving her and their partnership in basketball; but Izumi couldn't handle the fact that Minori thought that she was better than her.

"You think that I'm better than you?! After you came back on your high horse from learning basketball in America. After you're always talking about your rich dad and CEO mom; you think that I'm better than you. I have to put up with your do-gooder style as you look down on me and how I play. We just don't work together anymore because I saw the way you looked at me in the Ueda game, Minori. I know that you think you're above me, so to have you spit that false trash from your shit mouth… oh I won't have that," Izumi balled up her fist, intending to use them.

Izumi threw herself onto Minori. Izumi wasn't as well off as Minori. Okanishi is a private school and the only way she can afford her tuition is from a sports scholarship. What Izumi said was part truth and part fiction. Minori never looked down on Izumi for her economic status. However, she feared how Izumi played basketball. That's where the look from the Ueda game came from.

Minori pushed Izumi off of her after the damage was done. Minori had a bloody nose and Izumi had a busted lip.

"We don't work together because you hurt people and couldn't give two shits about anyone but yourself!" Minori yelled.

Izumi left the team soon after that. She couldn't show her face after all the things that were said between her and Minori. When the position of captain was offered to Minori after Izumi left, Minori respectfully declined. She said that her heart wouldn't be in it anyway.


	5. 2nd Quarter: Power Play

**2nd Quarter: Power Play**

Izumi and Kagami stood at the center of the court as Minori watched from the sidelines with nervous anticipation. On Seirin's side, Riko was trying to remain as composed as possible when she was speaking to Kiyoshi.

"What do you mean we have no stats on her," Kiyoshi whispered back.

"We only collected data for a set amount of time and Okanishi hasn't put Sota Izumi in a game for at least 6 months," Riko looked intently into Kiyoshi's eyes, "The best thing we can do is let her expose her weaknesses and work from there."

Izumi has a cool composure standing across from Kagami. Her body language didn't suggest any tension or worry. In a lot of ways she reminded Kagami of Aomine.

The whistle blew and both of the Power Forwards jumped for the ball. Izumi looked up to see her fingertips graze the ball, but Kagami easily captured it around his hand. Izumi landed first and went into a defensive pose. Kagami moved backwards at first, the aura resonating from Izumi was unfriendly and threatening. Her cold eyes locked with his, she stepped forward, and went for the ball as Kagami was completing a dribble. He didn't have time to recuperate because Izumi was starting her jump for a long shot into the basket. Izumi drew her elbow to the side of her head and threw the ball into the basket. No one could stopped the ball's route as it silently made it's way through the basket.

Izumi looks to Minori and smiles. Minori looks away for Izumi's gaze, right now her only focus was coaching.

The crowd is in awe at the shot that Izumi just completed. From this point on, everyone is on the edge of their seats in order to see the mystery of Izumi's playing unfold.

Seirin now possesses the ball. Izumi isn't shy about defending Kagami at all cost. The rest of Okanishi's players would shift their marks in order to compensate for Izumi. Honoka doesn't move from Kuroko's side, restricting the use of Seirin's Light and Shadow. The ball is passed to Mitobe and Seirin begins a three man Run and Gun. Shock pans across Izumi's face. She leaves her mark and tracks the ball as it moves from player to player. The ball stops at Hyuga and just before he begins jumping, Izumi steals the ball with one hand and passes it to Kana who is directly behind her. Kana throws the ball towards the goal, Junko takes the ball out of the air and dunks it into the basket.

"See, I didn't think we'd be able to pull off the play on such short notice," Izumi smiled.

Okanishi's play resembled Kagami's self alley-oop. Izumi doesn't have the copying power of Kise or Haizaki. Her main ability is great leadership and play orchestration.

Izumi continued, "I can't jump or do any of those fancy tricks that Kagami can, so you can see why we had to modify that play." Her words were directed towards Hyuga.

Minori called a time out.

From the stands Imayoshi asked Aomine a question, "Why does it seem like Minori is the coach?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything that's going on," Aomine widened his eyes.

Okanishi formed emergency rules in the case that Izumi had to play again. The day Izumi came back to the team their coach, Lisa, called a meeting to establish these rules. In the event that Izumi plays in a game: Minori will take over as coach. Minori is to only coach to Izumi. Izumi then coaches to the rest of the players on the court. If Minori and Izumi play in a game together, the certain players on the court must be switched out to accommodate.

Everyone settled on these rules, but Minori fought at all cost to keep Izumi from playing. The injury of her finger was a force that was completely unseen. At the moment, Minori's biggest worry is Kagami going into the Zone.

"Izumi, mark Kuroko," Minori's face was stone.

"Why, too afraid that Kagami's in the Zone because I can tell you right now that he's more than halfway there," Izumi responded

"So are you saying that you won't do it?"

Izumi bit her bottom lip, "No. I'm just saying that it doesn't matter who I mark, Kagami's thinking about one thing and one thing only: 'How do I stop Sota Izumi?'"

The whistle was blown as a signal for the teams to go back on the court. Minori appeared cool and composed while looking at Kagami from the sidelines. Minori concluded that Izumi was right, he's almost in the Zone. The game resumed. Minori turned to Lisa and explained the game plan for the next quarter. There were no objections from the coach, she completely trusted Minori's judgement.

Izumi gained possession of the ball then looked around the court to see that she was being double teamed by Mitobe and Izuki. Izumi tried to charge past them with a fast dribble, but was immediately stopped by Izuki's Eagle Eye. Izumi didn't do a double take, she was expecting as much. Yasuko slid her hand under Izuki's in order to steal the ball. Izuki brought the ball to his chest and passed to Kuroko. Minori held her breath from the sidelines. Kuroko began a pass to Kagami, but Izumi caught it mid way. Without turning around or stopping, she threw the ball into the basket with a quick flick of her wrist. The ball went into net with a silent _swish_ and the gym fell silent.

"11 points behind," Izumi smiled, "Can you catch up?" Kagami balled his fists without a word to Izumi. She was very unsatisfied with his 'no reaction' approach, but she set up for defense without an expression of protest.

Kuroko passed the ball to Hyuga.

"Junko," Izumi yelled after the ball left Hyuga's hand.

The ball made a high arch aiming for the basket. Junko was a few feet in front of the net when she jumped up and her middle finger slightly grazed the ball.

"Damn," she said under her breath because the ball made the goal anyway.

Up in the stands Murasakibara asked Himuro, "But Sota could have made it through to score a goal?"

Himuro looked at the court intensely, "But that's not her style. Sota Izumi is proficient in street ball techniques, but right now she's not gonna risk a charge in order to gain possession. She has sense enough to relying on her team."

In a few aisles away, Akashi was speaking to his team, "It's by no mistake that all of Okanishi's team work well together. They were mostly hand picked by Suda and Sota."

In the Girls' League of High School basketball, their "Generations of Miracles" was two years prior to Minori and Izumi entering high school. The two girls as well as a few isolated players throughout Japan mark the "Golden Period," of the Girls' League. This term isn't as officially recognized as the Generation of Miracles, so the girls are often left out from any categorizing.

"From what I understand… Since they were left out of the previous generation, they decided to make their own. Suda and Sota's recruiting process is rumored to be the most selective of their prefecture," Momoi told Aomine in the stands. Aomine bit the skin of his bottom lip and watched Minori standing on the sidelines. He wondered how he never noticed or received any of this information from her. Then again in the 2 months that they've been dating, basketball has come up less than twice.

Izumi was defending Kagami at the free throw line. She was anticipating a Lane Up. Kagami let out a roar and began to run. Izumi processed his next move and braced for the worst. Kagami was definitely in the Zone. Izumi jumped to block Kagami, but her size and strength was no match for a Meteor Jam. She fell to the gym floor and the buzzer signaling the end of the quarter, sounded. Izumi looked up at Seirin's Power Forward, the aura radiating off of him made her fingertips go numb. She hadn't had a challenge like this in months. Minori saw that the scoreboard read: 42 Okanishi, 38 Seirin; she expected it to be a greater point difference.

Once everyone gathered by the benches again, Minori went over what she discussed with Lisa.

"I'll be playing in the third quarter… with Izumi," Minori announced to her team.

There was an audible gasp from the bench.

"Looks like we're getting the old team back together," Izumi, despite her snide remark was enthralled about Minori's decision.

"We all know about the limitations of the two of us going on the court together: but no matter what we do in the fourth quarter, running this play in the third will clench our win," Minori smiled and slammed her right fist into her open left hand.

Kana wasn't going to bring up the fact that Minori wants to win instead of tie like she said to the reporters. For now she'd sit on the bench and watch the game unfold.

Izumi turned to the team's two trump cards, "Chie. Ren. You ready to play."

The clock for halftime winded down and the loud buzzer reverberated through the gym.


	6. 3rd Quarter, Part One: Overzealous

**3rd Quarter, Part 1: Overzealous **

Minori carefully unwrapped her finger from the bandages.

"You gonna be okay," Izumi asked pretending to be half interested.

Minori nodded, "I slammed my hand in the car door when I was on the phone with a scout from America."

The two girls were making their way onto the court. Minori snapped her fingers, producing a loud click that filled the space between her and Izumi. Her right hand middle finger twitched because of the sudden violent action. Izumi flinched at the thought of Minori going to America. She understood that Minori belonged to Japan just as much as America; but it was still a hard pill to swallow.

"Some days I think that basketball is killing me," Minori said under her breath.

Izumi went to the tip off with Kagami. Something was different with the presence on the court. Okanishi subbed out three of their players during half time. In Honoka, Kana, and Yasuko's places now stood Minori, Chie, and Ren. Once again, Seirin had little to no information on the two freshman players.

Chie and Ren are auxiliary players who sat on the bench for most of their freshman year. They only played in scrimmages at Okanishi's captain's command.

Minori looked to Kagami, the calm demeanor that was there at the beginning of the game had disappeared. Now something animalistic had taken hold of him, she was scared for Izumi's sake. There was silence from the stands. The whistle blew and the ball went up in the air.

Kagami leaped up with all the strength in his knees. Izumi made an attempt at a jump for appearances then dropped back to Chie's position. Kagami had the ball wrapped tightly in his left hand. Chie jumped up and speared the ball out of his hand. Shock crept across Seirin's faces. The ball bounced once on the floor then safely to into Junko's hands. Kagami was quicker than before. Minori was right behind him, asking Junko for the ball.

"What the hell is that," Takao asked Midorima.

Midorima scanned the court, "Do you mean the closeness of Okanishi's players?"

Takoa nodded.

Junko faked left then passed the ball up. Chie got a running start, jumped up, putting her hands under the ball, and pushed it away from her. The ball made a low silent path into the hoop.

"Bullshit," Kagami looked at Minori who was behind him.

The wheels inside of Aomine's head began to turn.

"Momoi. What were you saying about the recruiting process of Okanishi," he asked.

Momoi was trying to remember what the file said exactly, "Just higher grade point averages, certain skill sets, teamwork, leadership, ballh –"

Aomine looked down at Minori and Izumi, "A certain skill set?"

Momoi eyes widened and she tugged on Aomine's jacket. She thought nothing of it at the time, but now it was important.

"Each of the girls on team had to have played a sport other than basketball in the past or had to be playing another sport while still in the basketball program. Do you think that has something to do with this," Momoi confessed.

Aomine squinted his eyes at the two girls on the court. _It would definitely explain a few things_, he thought.

It's no secret that Minori was a lacrosse player back in America. It explains her quick analysis of other players' movements and ball handling skills. Honoka used to play soccer which is the reason for her quick feet; Yasuko and Chie were proficient in volleyball and as a result have solid defensive and jumping skills; and Ren played softball. The only exceptions are Izumi and Kana.

The ball turned over to Seirin. Izumi thought about all the possible plays that Seirin could pull off. With Kuroko resting on the bench and Kiyoshi not playing, the option were limited. The only person who could possibly carry the team at this point is Kagami. Izumi looks at Minori.

"Nori," Izumi shouts as Izuki snaps the ball to Hyuga.

Minori got into a defensive position in front of Hyuga. She smiled gently, the air around her was electric.

Minori began to speak, "You know what really bothers me about games like these… How easy it is for gaps to form."

Minori made an attempt to steal the ball, but Hyuga swiftly jumped up and made a shot for the basket.

Junko ran in the ball's direction. Just before it made it's way into the basket, she leaped into the air and caught it with her right hand. Everyone was in awe. She had been perfecting that move for months. Junko made a pass to Izumi, who moments before broke away from her defender.

Kagami now marked Izumi. Slowly a chill crept up her legs and to her torso as she looked into Kagami's eyes. She could feel the presence of the Zone infecting her body. Minori was right behind Kagami. He arms were spread on either side of her. It looked like the two girls were trying to trap him inside of their defensive stance. If Kagami moved back even an inch, Okanishi would be called for a Screen. Minori snapped her fingers loudly. Izumi passed the ball to Minori's right hand. Minori brought her left hand to the back of her right hand and shot the ball towards the basket. Kagami's eyes widened. Okanishi didn't play like a basketball team. He finally understood, they were an amalgamation of every sport the girls have ever played.

"Suda and Sota weren't in a Generation, so they made their own," Akashi explained to the 3 Generals on his team.

The ball's path was stopped by Izuki. Minori and Izumi paused. Seirin launched their counter attack with Izuki at the helm. In the first quarter Seirin successfully completely their Run & Gun, no problem. Izumi and Minori could now feel the doors of the Zone about to open for of them. Seirin finished their play with minimal defensive pressure. Lisa called a time out.

"Cool them off," Lisa ordered the rest of the team.

Here are some of the limitations Minori was talking about. If she, Izumi, Junko, Chie, and Ren are to play at the same time, sacrifices must be made. First; Minori and Izumi must both play Power Forward, leaving Ren to be the Shooting Guard and Point Guard. This takes a toll on more than half the players on the court. And second; Minori quickly found out when Izumi came back to the team that they couldn't be in the Zone at the same time on the court. The result was a lack of communication and coordination, their styles clashed too much. The best the girls could do is allow the other person to go into the Zone one at a time. Lisa had to cool them down before letting them back on the court or the whole quarter would be for nothing.


	7. Flashback: It doesn't matter anyway

**Flashback: It doesn't matter anyway**

"Nori," Aomine breathed.

Minori's forehead touched Aomine's and she looked into his eyes. The whole house was quiet and small rays of light escaped from behind curtains of the nearby window. Minori was straddling Aomine's lap and his hands were on the back of her upper thigh.

"Yeah," Minori responded.

Aomine moved his left hand to Minori's hair and asked quietly, "Are you staying in Japan?"

Minori moved her head away from his and her face went from intimate to bewildered.

"You can't be serious?! I'm in your room, I don't have pants on, and the only thing you wanna talk about is my future," Minori said as she left Aomine's lap and moved to the corner of the bed that was by the window.

Aomine watched Minori pout and fold her arms over her chest.

"We've been talking for months now and you can't stop talking about your future. But on the other hand, I can't get one word out of you about your past," Aomine said sympathetically, "What are afraid of?"

Minori looked hurt and tried to look anywhere but Aomine's eyes. She slowly edged out of the corner while trying not to get too close to him. The room was silent for awhile. Minori was thinking of where the story began.

Minori opened her mouth and the words fell out, "My mom moved here from America after college. She was looking for an opportunity to start up a business and thought that Japan was perfect. It turned out that she was really good at business things, so she stayed here. While her business was growing she met a lot of powerful people who could influence her success; but one of them really stuck out to her. She and this young business man began getting closer with each other. First he started out to be one of my mom's few friends in Japan, then their relationship became more romantic."

Minori paused to look out of the curtains, the sun was about to set.

"This businessman was married though and an affair is really fun… until you have a kid. My dad was really happy because I was his first daughter, but his wife wasn't really too happy about it. She forbid him from seeing me because I would ruin his reputation and business and name and so on. My mom understood that, but what she couldn't understand was why would his wife go out of her way to ruin my mom's business," Minori's tone shifted to anger again, "Why would she make it harder for an American business woman in a foreign country? Why would she have to slander her name? Who would do that?!"

Aomine put his hand on Minori's knee as she was biting her tongue to escape from crying.

"Do you get it now, I'm not welcome here. That's why I have to go, do you get that," Minori was searching in his eyes for understanding.

Aomine replied, "But his wife wasn't targeting you. You're okay, right."

The story didn't end there, so Minori continued with a slight smile, "I have a lot of older brothers and out of all of them my favorite is Hidoaki. When he found out that I was his sister, he went to my school, introduced himself, and offered to walk me home. At that point he was in university and just by meeting me, dad could have cut him off. And that's why I love Aki (Hidoaki), he didn't care what my dad thought, and he didn't pretend I didn't exist like the others."

Minori's attitude changed, "Well he use to not care. When he began shadowing my dad as the successor to the conglomerate... Aki had to stop seeing me. Dad wouldn't allow it, he said it would have ruined his chances for success. I understood that too, he's always wanted to take over for dad. So he stopped coming around and I felt alone, again."

Aomine thought about all of the people close to Minori. Her mom and Onaga Junko were the only two people in her life that weren't directly associated with basketball. She used to have Izumi, but not anymore. And even if she stays in Japan, there's a slim chance she'll stay close with her teammates. Aomine couldn't even insert himself into Minori's equation because they've only known each other for a few months.

Minori started thinking about how alone she was too. Moving to America probably wouldn't change that. Suddenly, Minori latched onto Aomine and put her head to his chest. At first he was in too much shock to hold her. Hot tears ran down Minori's cheeks and her hands gripped Aomine's shirt tighter.

"Whether I stay or go, it doesn't matter anyway," Minori said through the sobs.

Aomine looked down at his crying girlfriend. His hand stroked her long black hair as she shook from sobbing. Aomine stayed silent. The subject of America never came up again.


End file.
